Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Winds of Fate ❯ The Darkest Hour ( Chapter 7 )

A FF8 fanfic by Brenton Braswell

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the series of the Final Fantasy series. They all belong to Squaresoft and are being used without permission. All original characters, Lisa Hawkwind, Daniel Kunteais and others are copyrighted by the author and are not to be used by anybody without my permission. If somebody has a problem with that, all I could say is, tough luck.

Before anybody thinks this is a sequel to "Blades of Destiny", I'll say it is not. Even though I've used Lisa and Dan before, I decided to use them one last time. If you want to read my other fic, just type in the title or click on my penname.

Also, if anyone wants to use any of my original characters, just email me and ask. My email is bbraswell54@hotmail.com

I'd like to dedicate this fic to Ginger Ninja, Lady Aliena, Destiny, and Sasha Janre.

Character direct thoughts are in parentheses

In the last chapter, the fighting between Sasha and Jaden was going on. After a little while, the Galbaldian military showed up, and Jaden disappeared. Sasha was then placed under arrest and taken to the same jail that Lisa was.

Meanwhile, Dan, Selphie, Zell and Narrak were fighting in the park. Narrak broke off his attack and disappeared. To avoid being arrested by the Galbaldian military, the three SeeDs got an injured Squall and made their way back to the Ragnarok. Headmaster Cid immediately contacted them about the reason for their actions. He informed them that Sasha and Lisa were taken into custody, but Sasha would be let go. They went and picked up Sasha, and waited for a witness to come forward about what happened in Deling's shopping district. After one did, Lisa was let go and the six SeeDs went back to Balamb garden.

The next day, Kale had put Rinoa under a deeper hypnosis, and Rinoa was under Kale's control. Kale then introduced her as his new recruit and bearer of his children. Everyone took the news well, but Mei-Len. She chose not to interfere and let Rinoa be the one that bears his children.

Elsewhere, Zechariah made a request to Cid to send Dan, Selphie and Irvine to get his son from Fisherman's Horizon. Cid agreed and immediately deployed them to go there.

Almost at the same time, Narrak had located the Hawkwind that lives in FH. Kale then sent Narrak and Mei-Len to go there. Kale had other plans in mind. He went to Deling city with Jaden, Jakob, and Rinoa and went to the presidential residence. After a lot of fighting, Kale had reached the president and made him a proposition to him about letting Kale be the general of the Galbaldian Military. He proclaimed that he could get rid of SeeD and the president agreed after seeing a little show of his power.

A little while after that, General Caraway and Cid were talking over the videophone when some soldiers arrested the general. Cid immediately turned off the phone, but not before hearing the Kale was the new general. Cid immediately went to work of informing the headmaster of Galbaldia Garden and the headmistress of Trabia Garden of the danger. He knew they would have to work fast and call all of their undercover SeeDs back on missions in Deling city, Timber, and Dollet. After all the necessary calls were made, Cid then told Lisa, Zechariah, Squall, Xu and some other people about the incident.

In Fisherman's Horizon, Narrak and Mei-Len had located Thomas Hawkwind and started going about their job of eliminating him. Mei-Len decided to have a little fun and make him suffer for being so weak. Dan, Selphie, and Irvine were also in FH, and were too late to stop the blow that knocked Thomas out. The five then battled until Selphie and Irvine were knocked out. In desperation, Dan used a technique and used a lot of his energy to greatly injure Narrak and Mei-Len. It was a good thing that it worked, because Dan used most of his energy and didn't look like he could fight real long against the two. He then cured Selphie and Irvine and called an ambulance for Thomas. Later, at the hospital, he was announced to be in a coma. This made Dan feel guilty and wondered if Zechariah and Lisa would hate him for not being able to save him.

At the same time, Kale was announced on television as Galbaldia's new general. Kale then declared war on the world. That's where the last chapter stopped. Here's chapter 7 of Winds of Fate.

Chapter 7: The Darkest Hour

(Date: July 15, 4018 AC. Time: 12:30 hours. Place: Balamb Garden; Headmaster's office.)

(I was wondering when he would be able to convince somebody to make him a general.) Zechariah silently commented. (I hope everything is all right, and Dan was able to save Thomas.) The elder Hawkwind felt when Narrak, Mei-Len and Dan were using their powers in Fisherman's Horizon. He also felt the tremendous amount of energy that Dan released. He looked over to Sasha and Lisa to see that they also felt the power being released, and Lisa looked very worried. (I guess Lisa cares a lot for Dan.) "Has there been any word from Dan, Selphie and Irvine?" Zechariah asked Cid.

"I'm sorry old friend," Cid shook his head. "No one is at the Ragnarok at this time."

Nida then came down from off the bridge. "Excuse me Headmaster Cid, Selphie is in the Ragnarok and is asking for you and Zechariah."

Zechariah and Cid got on the Platform with Nida and went up to the bridge. Cid took the microphone, "Yes Selphie, you can go ahead with your report."

"Actually, Dan wanted to be the one to make it headmaster," said Selphie. There was then shuffling heard.

"Is Zechariah with you Cid?" Dan asked uneasily.

"Yes he is," answered Cid. "What's wrong? You sound like something is wrong."

They then heard Dan take a deep breath. "I'm sorry headmaster, and Zechariah. I failed my mission."

Zechariah's eyes widened at hearing that. "What do you mean Dan?"

"I wasn't able to get to Thomas in time," replied Dan. "Narrak and Mei-Len got there first and seriously injured him. Now he's in a coma. I'm sorry Zechariah. I tried my best to get to him real fast."

Zechariah felt his heart become heavy. (No, not my son. Damn Kale Akaisura and his warriors!) A few tears then spilled from Zechariah's eyes as he looked down. "Damn Kale Akaisura!" Zechariah suddenly yelled out.

"Are you still in Fisherman's Horizon?" The headmaster asked.

"No," answered Dan. "The doctor informed me that Thomas could be moved. He's still hooked up to the respirators and we have a nurse with us. They said she's to accompany us to monitor Thomas's life signs. We're halfway to Balamb Garden."

"We'll have Doctor Kadowaki and some SeeDs on standby to take Thomas to the infirmary when you get here," Cid informed them.

"Okay, Ragnarok over and out," Dan stated before cutting communications.

"I'm sorry Zechariah," Cid said while putting a hand on Zechariah's shoulder. Zechariah just stayed silent while letting the tears fall from his eyes. The two then took the platform down to the office.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked as she saw her grandfather silently crying. (I wonder what was said that made grandfather be in tears like this?)

Zechariah looked up while still crying. "Lisa," started Zechariah with his voice sounding shaky. "You have another uncle that you never knew about. Dan, Selphie, and Irvine were sent to Fisherman's Horizon to get him. Kale Akaisura's warriors found him first and injured him to the point of going into a coma." Zecharih then looked down with a sad look on his face.

Lisa was shocked by this news. (I have had an uncle that lived in FH.) She then looked down with a sad look on her face. She knew she wasn't that sad since she didn't know him, but she was sad that he was in a coma. (Dan must be feeling real guilty right now since he couldn't save him. Kale Akaisura, you're going to pay for ever messing with my family.) Lisa, Zechariah, Sasha and Cid all went down to the infirmary and waited for the Ragnarok to get there with Thomas.

(Time: 12:53 hours. Place: Presidential Residence; outside a conference room.)

Kale Akaisura looked at Mei-Len as she was holding a hand to the side of her head. "Are you all right Mei-Len?"

"Yes Kale," Mei-Len replied. "I'm still a little woozy from that blow that Narrak and I took. Though I did put that Hawkwind in a coma."

"Excellent," smiled Kale. "This will really make all of those of the Hawkwind clan mad."

Marlon Kansenington then came down the hall. "All of the people that would oppose this plan of yours and try to put a stop to using the military are in that room Kale. Once they're out of the way, you'll have free rule over the army."

"That's good," said Kale.

Marlon then flung open the doors and Kale walked in with Marlon to his right and Mei-Len to his left. There were 12 angry men and women in the room. "What's the meaning of this Kansenington?!" One of the men at the table yelled.

"Yes, we demand to know what you're trying to do to the Galbaldian nation's name!" A woman shouted.

"Also, who is this Kale Akaisura? And why did he declare war on the world?!" Another man yelled. The other politician's at the table then all started shouting at once.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kale commanded with anger in his voice and the room was silenced. "You want to know who I am? I'm the man that will lead the world into a new era in the Galbaldian nation's name." (Yeah, until I get tired of this charade and kill Kansenington. Then it will be my new world order.) Kale silently added.

"Kanseninigton," started a man in a gray business suit. "I hope you know this was a foolish move on your part. You may have doomed us all. SeeD, and Esthar will not stand for this. You also know that Esthar has just as much power, if not more."

"I know that," said Marlon. "But with Mr. Akaisura's help, we can crush everyone that opposes us."

"I can't believe we actually picked this idiot to be the new president," commented a woman in a red business suit. This statement got nods from the rest of the men and women at the table. "All those in favor of kicking out Mr. Kansenington out of office, and stripping Akaisura from his position, raise your hands." All of the men and women raised their hands. "Then it is agreed upon. You two, escort these two off of the premises." The woman motioned to two of the soldiers in the room. They just went over to Kale and stood behind him doing nothing. "I said kick them out!" The woman shouted.

"That was the way things used work around here," smirked Kale. Mei-Len, Marlon, the soldiers and Kale backed out of the door. "I'm here to tell you that you are not needed anymore. Here's your resignation." Kale then pointed his hand toward the table and gathered a good amount of energy. The politicians looked dumbfounded as they saw black energy gather into black clad man's hand. He shot it in the middle of the room and it stopped. The 12 men and women looked at it and then at Kale. Kale smiled, put his other hand up and created a shield in front of him. He closed his outstretched hand and the black energy exploded in a brilliant flash. He closed his eyes as not to be blinded. There were screams, but they were cut short. After all of the dust and smoke cleared, Kale walked into the room admiring his handy work.

Unfortunately, the one woman in the red was still alive. She was burnt, bloodied, and breathing in gasps while everyone else was dead. "You monster," she whispered.

"Why thank you," Kale said while unsheathing his broadsword. "But flattery will not make me spare your life." Kale then plunged his sword into her chest, and through her heart. He smiled as he saw her tense up and then slump to the ground dead with her eyes open. He sheathed his sword and walked out of the room. "Mei-Len, tell Jaden to assemble enough troops and head out to Timber," Kale commanded. "Tell him that I said to take it over, and not to cause too many deaths among the population. I know Jaden would want to go crazy, but I won't let him." Mei-Len nodded. "Also, after that is done, you are to take some men and take over Galbaldia Garden." Mei-Len bowed and walked off to find Jaden.

Narrak came down the hall and bowed. "Narrak, You are going to come with Rinoa and myself, and we'll take over Dollet," ordered Kale. "Assemble as many troops as we need."

"Yes, my lord," replied Narrak. He then bowed and walked off.

"Mr. Kansenington," Kale addressed the man walking beside him. "It won't take too long to occupy these cities."

"That's good," commented Marlon. "What about SeeD and Esthar? I expect them try to stop us."

"That's what I'm hoping for," said Kale. "If they don't show up, we'll go hunting for them later. Also, you should declare martial law in Deling city and stop all trains going out of this city."

(What the hell? He's acting like he's in charge around here.) Marlon thought. "I'll do that," Marlon said.

They then came upon Rinoa. "Rinoa, do you know where Jakob is?"

"No, my love," answered the hypnotized sorceress. "Jaden maybe knows where he is."

Kale nodded and disappeared. He reappeared just outside of Deling city where Jaden was giving his troops some last minute orders. "Jaden, do you know where Jakob is?"

"Yes sir," said Jaden. "But you're not going to like what I tell you."

"Well, spit it out," Kale ordered.

"He went to Balamb Garden to kill Lisa Hawkwind," Jaden stammered. He then started talking normal. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he was so adamant on going there and killing her. He left a few minutes ago."

Kale then looked pissed. "Well, If he comes back here," started Kale. "You are not to help him if he is seriously injured. Also, if you feel his power fading, don't do anything to help him. If he dies, then it is his own fault. He disobeyed my order; I never thought he would do something like this. If he comes back, I'll deal with him myself." Kale then disappeared.

The man in black reappeared by Narrak, Rinoa, the troops and the vehicles they were going to take. "Move out!" Kale commanded while getting into a transport. Rinoa and Narrak followed him in the transport. The troops got into all the other ones also and the vehicles headed out of the city.

(Time: 13:14 hours. Place: Balamb Garden.)

In the infirmary, Zechariah, Claire, Sahara, Dr. Kadowaki, and the nurse was in the room. Zechariah and Sahara was the most down trodden about Thomas's condition.

(I can't believe my baby bro is like this.) Sahara thought. She was mad about Kale going after her and her children, but she was even more furious at him for killing her brother, and having his warriors put her little brother in a coma. "If I could, I would kill Kale Akaisura myself," Sahara said out of the blue.

"You can't," stated Zechariah. "We should just let Lisa take care of him." Zechariah knew that was a lie that came out of his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to kill Kale Akaisura himself. (If I take care of this tyrant from the past, no more of my family will have to die.) Zechariah mused to himself.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Claire apologized. She knew that she should be sadder than she was, but she didn't know Thomas. With Kale killing her husband, and making her a widow, and her daughter, fatherless, Claire thought these days were the worst days of her life. (I'm glad Elizabeth didn't stop talking. I know if I were she, I would have clammed up and not talked for a long time. Brian.) Claire thought. Just thinking about the man that she loved made tears come forth once again. She then looked down and started to sob. Sahara immediately put her arm around her sister in law and tried to comfort her.

Zechariah looked at the scene of his daughter in law crying, and his old heart weep as well. He then looked at the comatose form of his son, Thomas. "Thomas, I don't know if you can hear me," the old man started. "But if you can, I don't blame you for not wanting to accept Alexander's legacy. Even though we had our bad times, we also had our good times. I still love you like I did the day you were born. Don't worry son, retribution is going to come to Kale Akaisura, I'll make sure of it myself." (I just hope I'm strong enough to do this.)

Dr. Kadowaki then went over to the monitor that showed brain activity. It was still showing straight lines. "No change," she said to herself while writing it down on a paper on a clipboard.

"Excuse me doctor Kadowaki," pardoned Zechariah. "Is there any chance of Thomas coming out of this coma?"

"It's hard to say," answered the plump woman. "This is one of the worst cases that I've ever seen in my life. I seriously doubt it, but there is always hope that a miracle happens."

"Yes," said Zechariah. "Miracles do happen, but not often." He then turned to Sahara and Claire. "I'll be in my room if you need me." The old man with the white hair, beard, and traditional Japanese style clothes then walked out of the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Jakob Krentac, a six foot four bald muscular man with a black vest, blue baggy pants, and black boots appeared on the continent of Balamb. In his right hand, he held his polearm weapon, a halberd. He was currently walking to Balamb Garden and was nearly upon it.

(Lisa Hawkwind, you'll pay with your life for scarring me. No one has ever inflicted this much damage upon me, and she's the first to do it.) Jakob contemplated. The warrior from the past was mad that a young woman that didn't look any older than 21 or 22 could injure and humiliate him. (The world has come a long way from what I remember it from. Even the combat has changed from what I knew it as.) Jakob then looked up at Balamb Garden and noticed that it looked familiar to him. (This must have been one of the shelters that were made during our time to take people away from Centra.)

He then spotted three girls in dark blue uniforms. Two of them pale skinned, and the other dark skinned. Jakob immediately came up with a plan to get Lisa Hawkwind out of garden without having to encounter no one else but her. He nonchalantly walked by the three girls and saw the weird looks they gave him. After they were past him, Jakob immediately turned around and with the blunt end of the pole, he hit one of the girls in the back of the head, knocking her down. As the other two were turning around, he immediately kicked the dark skinned girl in the side knocking her down. He quickly got behind the other one and put the bladed part of the halberd to the girl's neck and held it there, and this got a startled cry from the girl. After the other two got up, the dark skinned girl unsheathed a rapier sword, and the other light skinned girl unsheathed some two sai. "I suggest you stay back or your friend will have her throat cut," threatened Jakob. The two girls thought he was bluffing and took one step forward. Jakob then put a little more pressure on the weapon, and this got a little gasp from the girl he was holding. "I'm not bluffing."

"What do you want?" Asked the light skinned girl.

"I want you two to run into the Garden and get SeeD Lisa Hawkwind to come out of here," replied the tall warrior. "You do know who she is, right?"

"Of course," replied the dark skinned girl knowing that she didn't know her personally. "She's one of the top SeeDs here."

"Interesting," mused Jakob. "If you are able to get her out of here, no harm will come to your friend." The two girls nodded, sheathed their weapons and ran into the Garden. A few more people came out and wanted to stop what Jakob was doing, but he adamantly threatened to kill the cadet if they got any closer. (Soon, I'll have revenge on that little bitch, Lisa Hawkwind.)

Not knowing what was going on, Lisa Hawkwind was in the second floor gym with her little cousin, Elizabeth. Lisa was in a white tank top with a red and white yin yang symbol on it, blue pants, dark blue gym shoes, and had her Ergheiz gloves on, and her sword on the belt to her side. Elizabeth, the five-year-old girl was in a small cadet uniform that fit her. Lisa had to admit, her little cousin looked cute in it.

Currently Lisa was showing her little cousin some martial arts and trying to teach her. Lisa was punching, and Elizabeth was trying to mimic the way Lisa punched. She wasn't having that much luck, but it was good enough for one her age. "Okay, a few more, and then were through," announced Lisa. The little girl nodded and they threw a few more punches before they stopped. "You did great for your first time kiddo."

"I did?" Elizabeth smiled. "When I grow up, I want to be a SeeD, just like you."

Lisa then looked at her little cousin after hearing that proclamation. "Are you sure?" Elizabeth nodded. "Do you know what a SeeD does exactly?"

Elizabeth nodded again. "They go on missions, get the bad guy, and save the world. Right?"

Lisa smiled at this answer the little girl gave her. "Something like that honey," she replied. "There's a whole lot more that goes on than that. The life of a SeeD is dangerous, and it might not be one that you would like."

"Nah uh," said Elizabeth. "I want to be a SeeD and get the bad guys." Elizabeth really admired her big cousin, and wanted to be just like Lisa.

(Man, Claire will blame me for putting that idea in her head. I could try my best to discourage Elizabeth, but it won't be easy.) "You could get killed if you be one," the blonde haired young woman said.

"So," answered Elizabeth. "Daddy told me that there's always risk involved when you do anything. He said that I have to be willing to do almost anything to achieve my dreams."

Lisa then looked at the precocious girl. (Oh well, maybe Claire could talk her out of it. If not, then she can decide later after going through training if she still wants to be a SeeD.) "Well, You're going to have to talk to your mom about this," smiled Lisa. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up."

As they were walking to the door, a cadet barged in the room and screamed, "Is Lisa Hawkwind in here?"

"Right here," replied Lisa. "What's wrong?"

"You've got to come to the front gate," the frantic girl said. "A big bald man with a scar on his chest attacked Karen, Jackie, and myself and are holding Jackie hostage. He threatened to cut her throat if we didn't find you."

(Jakob. So I guess he finally wants revenge for that scar I gave him.) Lisa nodded. She then looked at her little cousin. "Elizabeth, go find your mommy or something. I have to take care of a little business."

"But I want to come with you and see you beat up the bad guy," whined Elizabeth. "Please?" She looked at Lisa with puppy dog eyes.

(Hyne, I wish she wouldn't make those eyes at me. She knows that's one of my weaknesses. Hell, I guess I'll take her to see what a SeeD does. That'll maybe discourage her from wanting to be a SeeD.) "Okay," said Lisa. "You can come." She then turned to the cadet. "When the fighting starts, I want you to take good care of my little cousin. See that no harm comes to her." The cadet nodded. The three ran for the elevator, and took it down. They then ran toward the small crowd gathering outside of the front. Lisa also saw that a few of them also had their weapons out.

Jakob was really getting tired of waiting. He would give her a few more minutes to get out the Garden or this girl is dead. (She better hurry up or I'll kill this girl and then go on a killing spree starting with them.) Jakob silently proclaimed. He then saw two figures and a smaller figure running up to the crowd and pushing their way through. (Speak of the devil.) He then saw Lisa Hawkwind wearing almost the same thing that she wore when she gave him the scar. He looked on as she talked to the little girl and pushed her into the arms of a girl. "So you're finally here."

"Yeah," nodded Lisa. "Let the girl go."

"As you wish," said Jakob. He then pulled the bladed part off of the girl's neck and let her go. The female cadet then ran toward the crowd and by her one friend. "Now I can take my revenge on you. It's time to pay for this scar you gave me." The tall warrior then got in a fighting position.

"If you wish to fight me," started Lisa. "We'll have to do it out far away from the Garden. I don't want these SeeDs and cadets to get hurt."

"As you wish," said Jakob while getting out of his fighting stance. "But once we're far enough, be prepared to die."

"Yeah, whatever," quipped Lisa.

The two walked out toward Balamb. The small group of spectators watched as they went away from the Garden. Sasha and Dan joined the small group of spectators. Elizabeth instantly recognized them and shouted, "Hey Sasha, hey Dan!"

Dan and Sasha went over to the cadet and Elizabeth. "Hey sprout," greeted Dan while ruffling her hair. "What's going on?" Dan asked the cadet.

"Lisa is going to fight that man that threatened Jackie's life," she answered. This got confused looks from both Dan and Sasha.

Sasha and Dan then looked at what everyone was looking at. (That's Jakob. I hope you can beat him Lisa.) Sasha prayed.

After they were far enough, the blond haired female SeeD and the tall warrior from the past stopped. "You know, you should feel honored," said Jakob. "It's not everyday that I go after one of my opponents that got away."

"I guess I should feel honored," retorted Lisa.

"The time for talk is through," Jakob pointed out. "Now let us find meaning through the clashing of steel and sinew." Lisa unsheathed her sword and did a few slashes before getting into a fighting position. "Just like Alexander."

The two warriors started circling each other with their weapons drawn. The afternoon sun was beating down on them making both sweat. They both charged forward and swung both weapons. After the initial clash, Lisa jumped back and went into horizontal slashes. All of them were blocked by the pole part of his weapon. He then pushed her katana off and started swinging the halberd at her; Lisa dodged it and tried a foot sweep. Jakob raised his leg and avoided the blow and returned it with the pole arm weapon coming down toward her. She rolled out of the way, and flipped back to her feet.

Jakob then charged the female Hawkwind, Lisa was concentrating on a technique, and two fireballs appeared beside her and she pointed her hand forward. The two fireballs zoomed forward and Jakob dodged them, and instantly locked weapons with Lisa. Lisa concentrated and made the fireballs turn around and come straight for Jakob's back. Jakob smirked and jumped away at the last moment, thus, making the fireballs hit and throw Lisa back.

Lisa moaned at getting hit by her own attack and didn't realize it would hurt that much. As she was sitting up, she didn't have time to moan about her pain because Jakob sent a ball of energy her way. The female SeeD immediately rolled out of the way, and threw her own ball of blue energy at Jakob. That was dodged too, and both were back up and glaring at each other in their battle stances. Both charged once more and started going at it, the katana and halberd was clashing together and they were matching each other move for move, slash for slash.

Back where the crowd was, Elizabeth watched with fascination as her cousin and the big man fought. (I want to be just like Lisa when I grow up.) Elizabeth thought. She continued to watch the fight with the female cadet's hands on her shoulders.

In a surprising move, Jakob knocked Lisa's katana high up into the air and thought he had her. Lisa ducked a slash aimed at her neck and did a tornado kick that hit Jakob square in the jaw and spun him around to the ground. She looked up and saw as the katana came spinning down to the ground. She caught it and got back into a fighting position with it. "Don't think that if I lose Destiny's Flame, that I'm totally defenseless," Lisa remarked.

"Destiny's Flame?" Jakob questioned.

"That's the name I gave to Alexander's katana," replied Lisa Hawkwind. "It fits, don't you think?"

"Yes, but that is the last thing that you'll be able to name," said Jakob while thrusting the halberd at Lisa. With the grace of a ballerina, Lisa spun out of the way and did a spinning slash that caught Jakob's left arm, but didn't do that much damage. "Damned whore!" In an unexpected move, Jakob's hand shot out and grabbed Lisa by the neck, picked her up, threw her up in the air a little and spin kicked her into stomach.

Lisa Hawkwind flew back from the blow, and slid along the ground. She was getting up coughing as she saw Jakob charge her. When she was finished coughing, she shot a blue crescent wave through her katana in a slash at Jakob.

(Not this time.) The tall warrior silently announced. He jumped over it came down with the halberd in an overhead swinging position. The only thing Lisa could do was jump back Jakob slashed the halberd in a downward motion. She wasn't lucky enough to come out of it unscathed and had a thin slash mark on her stomach and the tank top was torn a little.

The blond SeeD looked down to see that it was just a shallow scratch and it wasn't that serious at the time. It could be ignored at the time and she focused her attention back to Jakob. Her sword then caught fire, and Lisa narrowed her eyes. She swung her katana in an upward diagonal motion and the fire leapt off the sword and went across the ground real fast to Jakob. Jakob then jumped to avoid it. (Just what I thought he would do.) Lisa then jumped up in the air while spinning and yelling, "Phoenix kick!" In an impressive move, Lisa's right foot caught fire, and she nailed Jakob in the chest with a spinning kick. When the kick connected, an explosion of fire occurred and Jakob was thrown back and to the ground real far away. She wasn't that much of a martial artist, but even Zell would be impressed by that move.

Without warning, Jakob teleported right in front of her, dropped his halberd, punched Lisa in the face, a punch to the gut, and an uppercut that knocked her back but not out. Lisa got up and was bleeding through her mouth, and was surprised she held on to her katana after that unexpected onslaught. Jakob then started shooting many balls of energy at the young woman as she got up. Lisa was able to dodge them and concentrated on a technique while dodging. With a sweep of her hand, fire appeared below Jakob and rose up and engulfed him and throwing him back.

Jakob then started concentrating a lot of energy into his halberd and it turned a dark blue color. Lisa also concentrated a tremendous amount of power into the katana, and the blade part glowed a light blue. Both warriors charged each other with Jakob screaming while holding his halberd to the side. When they were close enough, Jakob mightily swung the halberd at Lisa's neck and she ducked. Being off balance, Lisa slashed the glowing katana in an upper diagonal motion across Jakob's chest, and then did a return slash in a diagonal motion. She then plunged the katana into Jakob's chest, and held it there for a few seconds. After sliding it out of his chest, she did a jumping spin kick and knocked Jakob to the ground. (That's for coming after my aunt you damned asshole!)

On the ground with two slash marks and a wound going through his chest, Jakob felt the life draining away from him. "Damn, I'm defeated," Jakob croaked before closing his eyes. Jakob then died.

Lisa then sheathed Destiny's Flame, her katana, and slumped to the ground on her knees while panting. "One down, four to go," Lisa said while looking at the lifeless form of Jakob Krentac, one of Kale's warriors from the past. She then shot a powerful fireball and incinerated his body to ashes.

"You did it Lisa," yelled Dan while running toward Lisa with Sasha by his side.

"Curaga!" Sasha shouted as she cast it on Lisa Hawkwind. She saw that the wound on Lisa's stomach had healed and her mouth had stopped bleeding. That still didn't help Lisa recover the energy she expended fighting Jakob.

Dan then helped Lisa back to garden and stopped in front of the crowd. Some of the cadets cheered and Lisa just blushed when she realized they were applauding her. "So Elizabeth," Lisa looked down at her youngest cousin. "You still want to be a SeeD after seeing me do that?"

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, "Yeah, that was so cool! I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

Lisa just shook her head. (Kids these days. When you think you can discourage them with something, it only encourages them.) "Come on Lizzy, let's go and get cleaned up." Elizabeth just followed her into the garden, as did the small crowd of SeeD cadets and SeeDs. Lisa knew she won a small victory, but one battle won does not win the war. It would be over when Lisa finally killed Kale and that was something Lisa was hoping to do soon. Nobody noticed the camera outside that watched the fight also.

In the Headmaster's office, Zechariah and Headmaster Cid watched the battle that took place with much interest. (That's how you do it Lisa. You won't be the one to face Kale first. I'll take care of him. I'll make him pay for what he did to my family.) Zechariah silently claimed.

(Time: 14:10 hours. Place: The forest by Galbaldian Garden.)

It had been some time before Mei-Len and her little platoon of soldiers got to forest by Galbaldian Garden. Earlier, she had felt the power being used by Jakob and Lisa Hawkwind and was a little surprised that Lisa Hawkwind could beat Jakob. To Mei-Len, the loss of Jakob's life was no consequence to her. She saw that as paying for his insubordination of Kale's orders.

After Mei-Len and the platoon was on the edge of the forest, She told everyone to stop. "When we get in there, kill everyone that resists you. You, you, you, and you will come with me," Mei-Len said pointing to four soldiers.

"This doesn't feel right doing this," said a soldier close to Mei-Len. "I'm not going through with this," said the soldier while walking away.

Mei-Len then narrowed her eyes and rushed behind the soldier and grabbed him by the neck. She then twisted his neck until she felt something snap. After breaking the man's neck, she let go of his body and it crumpled to the ground. "So are there any more deserters?" She asked while looking around. The answer she got was silence from the rest of the soldiers. "The only way you're getting out of this army is through death." She then turned around and started walking out of the forest. "Move out." The soldiers' then followed behind her.

After they were out of the forest, she immediately looked left and saw the red Galbaldian Garden. Mei-Len grabbed a pair of binoculars from a soldier and looked through them. (What the hell?) What she saw through the binoculars where a boy and a girl in uniforms looking back at her with their own binoculars. She then saw that the boy radioed in something. (Damn!) Handing back the binoculars, she said, "We're going to have to charge now!" She then started running and the soldiers behind her followed.

When they were just a quarter of the distance to the Garden, it started to move. (Damn, how did they know we were coming?) When they were halfway to it, it took off into the air, and out into the sea. "Well, it seems as though they were warned about us coming," Mei-Len observed. "Well, back to the vehicles. Let me see that radio."

After she got the radio, she called Kale. "Kale, come in," radioed Mei-Len.

"I'm here," answered Kale. "You're calling so soon Mei-Len. So I'm guessing you've taken over Galbaldian Garden faster than I thought."

Mei-Len didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it really couldn't be helped. "I'm sorry Kale," started Mei-Len. "But Galbaldian Garden looked like they were expecting us to come. It was able to take off before we reached it."

"I see," commented Kale. "I guess General Caraway must have warned them before he was arrested. Well, the soldiers that didn't tell me about him talking to anybody before will pay for it later."

"Yes, my lord," said the female warrior. "Your orders sir?"

"Return to Deling City," said Kale. "I would have sent you with the attack force to Balamb, but I was counting on Jakob to do it. That fool deserved to die for disobeying my command. Anyway, just go back to Deling city, and await further orders."

"Yes sir," she answered and Kale cut off communications.

"Let's go back to the vehicles and to Deling city," Mei-Len ordered the troops. They all then went back to the forest and got in their vehicles. Departing for Deling city, Mei-Len knew that one part of Kale's plan is ruined. She also knew the soldiers responsible for this fiasco will pay for it with their lives. (The poor bastards.)

(Time: 14:25. Place: Timber)

The platoon of soldiers that Jaden was leading was nearly there. Jaden stopped when he saw the pathetic excuse of a frontline defense. "Is the jamming frequency working?" The blonde haired warrior asked the communications officer.

"Yes sir," saluted the soldier. "They won't be able to send any messages to Galbaldia Garden or anybody else."

After most of the soldiers were out of the vehicles, Jaden commanded them to advance toward the enemy. Some of the soldiers thought he was crazy and that they would get shot before they even get there. Jaden assured they weren't going to get shot. "Move out," he commanded. Jaden then started concentrating on a technique. He erected an invisible force field around the soldiers and himself. Once they started walking toward the front line of the Timber army, the enemy let loose a volley of machine gun fire. Once they shot it, the forcefield flared up as the bullets struck it. None of the soldiers behind Jaden got shot, but one gung ho idiot ran forward shooting his machine gun after the timber forces stopped firing. He was out of the force field and got shot to death. "As long as you stay behind me, you won't get shot." Jaden then turned around toward the enemy. "Now let's, CHARGE!"

Jaden and the soldiers ran forward and the soldiers of Timber started firing at them. To no avail, all the bullets shot at Jaden and the Galbaldian troops were useless. The Galbaldian soldiers then returned fire and were mowing down some of the front line forces. "After we get close enough, I'm going to let down the shield and you're going have to watch your own ass when we engage the enemy!" Jaden shouted.

They were just twenty feet away and Jaden took down the shield and grabbed one of his metal nunchuku from off of his belt. By this time, most of the Timber soldiers had retreated to the entrance of the city and ran in it. Only a few stayed on the front line and were shooting at Jaden and the soldiers. Some of them were shot, but Jaden's magic and powers protected him from the bullets.

With surprising agility, Jaden jumped up over the sandbags that the soldiers were using for cover and came down toward one of the soldiers. The soldier was surprised, but had enough sense point his gun upward and shoot at Jaden. It was all in futility when a magic shield appeared around Jaden and blocked the bullets. Jaden came down and struck the soldier hard in the head and the soldier went down. He then stepped on his neck and put pressure on it and twisted his foot, thus crushing his windpipe and making the soldier struggle to get air in his lungs. After watching for a half a minute, the soldier was in his death throes and after a few more moments, he was dead.

Jaden smiled at this sight, and looked as some of the soldiers had made it over the sandbags with some unsheathing their swords and taking down the remaining Timber soldiers. Jaden then felt that familiar feeling of adrenaline rushing through his system. He then smirked and rushed into the city and spotted some soldiers with swords. He then engaged them and dodged their strikes while delivering his own strikes and killing the soldiers with the power put behind them. He hit them in the right places, that being the neck or crushing their skulls.

Jaden then smiled at seeing the dead soldiers on the ground. For some reason, the sight of blood from his fallen foes excited him. Jaden truly felt alive when his is in the heat of the battle and no feeling could come close to that feeling, except when he was having sex. (Now these weaklings will learn what it means to go against Jaden Knightstar.) The warrior silently announced.

"Onward to victory!" Jaden shouted as he charged into the city with soldiers following behind him.

As Jaden ran through the city, he battled and killed many Timber soldiers and resistance members in his way. He didn't see any civilians, but he didn't care. The soldiers had broken off into pairs and went different ways as they ran toward the middle of the city. Also, Jaden was blowing up cars and some buildings along with the soldiers in his way with energy blasts. After a little while of running, Jaden stopped to rest, as did the soldiers around him. As they were catching their breath, Jaden asked one soldier, "Where is the city hall of this place?"

The soldier looked at the street they were on and pointed, "It's that way." After two or three minutes of resting, Jaden and the soldiers ran in the direction that the soldier pointed out. After they came upon the building, they found a small group of soldiers guarding it. (Easily taken care of.) Jaden smirked. He just pointed his hand at them and shot a strong energy blast at them. The explosion and impact of the blast killed all the soldiers guarding city hall.

Kicking open the door, Jaden saw a couple of people running around. They stopped when they came upon the sight of Jaden, a blonde man in a red jacket, white pants, and black shoes, and the Galbaldian soldiers. "Surrender now, and you won't have to die later," smiled Jaden. "I declare that Timber is now under control of the Galbaldian nation, in the name of Kale Akaisura."

(Time: 14:50 hours. Place: Dollet.)

Not too far from Dollet, a similar front line was made to combat any kind of invasion from the Galbaldia nation. Kale, Rinoa, Narrak and the soldiers had stopped not too far away from the front line of Dollet troops.

Kale looked on as the troops of Dollet waited for them to advance. (So, I guess this will be more interesting then I thought it would be.) "Rinoa, would you like to do the honors?"

With the mean look and smirk on her face, Rinoa nodded and walked forward a few steps. Kale watched as the soldiers shuffled nervously and some looked confused as Rinoa stepped out in front of everyone else and took a few steps forward. Rinoa's eyes turned yellow and she started casting some magic. The hypnotized sorceress then unleashed ultima spells in four different places of Dollet's front line. After the explosions, Dollet's front line forces were cut down considerably. They then started firing upon Rinoa and Everyone behind her. She just raised her hand and a shield appeared in front of her and blocked the bullets.

Behind her, Kale and Narrak stood their ground as the soldiers took cover behind their vehicles. Shields also appeared around Kale and Narrak and they were left unharmed. Rinoa then started casting Firaga, Thundaga, and Meteor spells at the Dollet troops. The power in those spells was enough to kill everyone who was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of them.

The remaining forces of the front line then retreated back toward the city. "Excellent work my love," commented Kale. Rinoa just walked back over to his side and nodded. "Back in the vehicles. We'll drive closer to Dollet and then disembark and begin attacking them." Everyone then got back into the vehicles and drove through the front line and to the entrance of Dollet.

Upon arrival to the long road that lead into the city, Kale's forces came upon a small squadron of Dollet troopers. After everyone got out of the vehicles, Kale saw that they had swords and other close range weapons. (So, they want to play it that way, eh?) "Narrak, you may do the honors," Kale told the ninja.

"Thank you my lord," bowed Narrak. He then pointed to a few soldiers and started walking toward the Dollet soldiers. The soldiers instantly knew what he meant and got into step behind the ninja. As he was walking, he unsheathed his katana, and the soldiers' behind him followed his example and unsheathed their swords. Narrak then started running as did the soldiers behind him, and when he was almost to the Dollet soldiers in green uniforms, he did a somersault into the middle of the group of Dollet troops and spread them out. Narrak then started to furiously fight through the soldiers with skillful slashes and many dodges. The Galbaldian troops that followed Narrak also started killing soldiers with a few causalities on their side. After all the troops in front of them were dead. Narrak turned toward Kale and nodded.

"Okay, Move out!" Kale shouted. The soldiers behind him ran forward into the city, as did Narrak and the soldiers ahead of them. Kale then unsheathed his broadsword and started to casually walk into the city with Rinoa behind him and to his right. After he had gotten into parts of the city that Narrak and the Galbaldian soldiers already been too, he saw death and destruction. There were buildings on fire, and cars that had blown up. Kale felt as though he was at home in this kind of enviroment. When he was younger, he was forced to grow up in something like this.

When some Dollet troops that Narrak and the soldiers missed approached Kale, they were surprised at the skill that he showed. In little to no time, the Dollet troops were dead. When he came upon a big building that looked important, he saw some Galbaldian soldiers guarding the front of it. Once they saw Kale and Rinoa, they saluted. "Good job, where's Narrak?"

"Inside the building, Sir!" One of the soldiers replied

Kale nodded and went inside. He saw Narrak holding a man by the collar with the katana by his neck. Narrak looked around at the other men and women in the main hall and said, "If you surrender now, no one else will have to get hurt."

"We don't want to do this," started one man in a business suit. "But for the good of Dollet, we must do it. We of the Dollet Dukedom Parliament surrender."

"That's good," said Kale. "Now call of your remaining soldiers and tell them to surrender. If you don't, they'll be killed. Narrak, tell one of the soldiers outside to radio to all the other Galbaldian soldiers to stand down. Dollet is ours."

Narrak bowed and went outside. (Now all I have to do now is get Balamb, and destroy SeeD. After that, Esthar will be my last target in my quest of world domination.) Kale just smiled at that thought.

(Time: 15:30 hours. Place: Balamb city.)

Lisa Hawkwind in her SeeD uniform, looked around at all the SeeDs and cadets that were around her. She was glad that the sensing technique that her grandfather taught her works. Lisa, Dan, Sasha, Zechariah and Sahara sensed when Kale and his remaining warriors started using their powers. They were instantly alerted that something was going on in different parts of the world.

After sensing this, they immediately talked to Headmaster Cid about it. Cid suggested that Kale had already started his plans to take over Timber and Dollet. Dan suggested they should get some SeeDs ready and go and try to help them. Cid shot down that idea by saying something about Galbaldia being able to outnumber the SeeDs that are sent to the cities. He then pondered about an attack force being sent to Balamb city. This idea instantly alarmed everyone and they knew that had to take action immediately.

Cid called the mayor of Balamb city and told him about Galbaldia trying to invade Balamb and take over. The headmaster then convinced the mayor to allow most of the residents to evacuate into Balamb Garden and allow them into the city to set up defense against the imminent invasion. Balamb Garden was then moved to the entrance of Balamb city and allowed residents of Balamb to board it. After most were on, excluding the ones that wanted to stay behind, SeeDs and cadets were stationed at different points in the city. A suggestion about having a small force on the beach to combat invasion was immediately shot down. The flaw in that plan was that being out in the open like that would give Galbaldian soldiers the advantage. They wouldn't be reluctant to use machine guns, grenades and bazookas against the SeeDs and cadets. So many of the SeeDs and some of the cadets were stationed at different parts of the city. They wouldn't dare damage Balamb city more than necessary. More were stationed at the docks because that will probably be the main way they get into the city.

That was over an hour ago when all the preparations for an invasion were made, and now they had to wait until the Galbaldian forces came. Lisa then looked around at the people around her. Most looked psyched up and ready for battle, but one female cadet looked nervous. Lisa walked over to her, "Are you nervous?" That was obvious, but Lisa thought of asking that anyway.

The cadet nodded, "Yeah, I thought I wouldn't be participating in any more battles like the one we had between the two gardens over a year ago. I nearly didn't survive that, and I don't think I'll survive this."

"We'll get through this," reassured Lisa. "As long as you know this isn't training and it's a real battle. You're going to have fight your hardest to come out of this alive."

"I know," said the female cadet. "But I don't know if I'm ready for this situation again."

Lisa looked at the timid cadet and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, stick close to me and you'll be all right. I'll make sure of it, and if the fighting gets to intense for you, just retreat into one of the buildings until it's over." The cadet nodded and smiled. Lisa knew she shouldn't say things like that, because in battles like this, almost anything can happen. "Well, get ready, I'm sure they're going to come at any minute now."

After about five minutes, some planes could be heard. Lisa looked up and saw some transport planes. (I guess it's now or never.) She then unsheathed Destiny's Flame, her katana, and waited for them to come. In an instant, she saw about ten or eleven soldiers on hang gliders come out one of the transports. She looked at some more transports and saw many other soldiers were doing this also. She looked to her right and saw that the cadet was getting out her kadochis, Japanese short swords that female ninjas used to use. Lisa nodded and smiled and the cadet did the same.

She then turned her attention to the soldiers jumping off the hang gliders not too far ahead of them. (I'm going only use my techniques if it comes to that. I'll also have to watch the cadet's back as well as mine.) She saw about ten soldiers in blue and one soldier in red.

"Charge!" The soldier in red yelled. After seeing the soldiers charge, Lisa, the cadet and the SeeDs got into battle stances. The four SeeDs ahead of Lisa and the cadet were instantly engaged by four of the charging soldiers. The remaining six soldiers headed for Lisa and the cadet. Lisa immediately stepped forward and started swinging and separated the soldiers.

Not knowing what the soldiers were doing, Lisa and the cadet was immediately surrounded. "Back to back," Lisa told the cadet. One of the soldiers in front of Lisa charged at her and in an upward diagonal slash, she disarmed him of his sword and killed him in a downward slash. A soldier charged the cadet and slashed at her. She brought up her kadochis and blocked the sword. She instantly kicked him to the side of his knee, and the soldier went down on one knee. She then slashed him with the right kadochi in the neck and the soldier choked to death on his own blood. The remaining two soldiers in front of Lisa charged her and she had to parry both of their swords furiously. The cadet chose to step away from Lisa and attacked one of the soldiers furiously and he went down in a few slashes to the chest. While parrying, Lisa slashed out hard at one of the soldier's swords and knocked him off balance. She then went into a sword lock with the other one, and mightly pushed his sword up, and did a horizontal slash to his abdomen and stabbed him in the gut. As he was falling down, Lisa turned to the other soldier and ducked as he swung for her neck. She then took him down with an upward diagonal slash. The last soldier in front of the cadet charged her, but she sidestepped the slash and jabbed both kadochis into the soldier's back.

Lisa then heard the cadet gasp, and turned around to see what caused that reaction. She saw some soldiers down the street with machine guns pointing in their direction. "Get behind me and stay there!" She ordered the cadet. Lisa then jumped in front of the cadet. Putting Destiny's Flame forward, Lisa Hawkwind created a shield. Instantly, the soldiers fired and the SeeDs were scrambling for cover, and only one was caught up in the hail of bullet and went down. Lisa's shield blocked all of the bullets and when the soldiers stopped, they were stunned at the technique that Lisa used. She brought her right hand back and concentrated energy into it. She immediately threw her hand forward and shot a blue ball of energy out of it. The energy sailed through the air and impacted and killed the soldiers with the guns.

The cadet looked at Lisa in awe at what she saw Lisa do. "How did you do that?"

"It doesn't matter right now," Lisa replied. "I'll tell you later, let's check that SeeD that got shot." Both ran over to the SeeD member and saw that he had at least four or five bullet holes in his chest. Lisa knelt down beside him and held his hand to give him at least a little bit comfort before he goes into death. After a moment, the SeeD member stopped breathing and died with his eyes open. Lisa then closed them with her left hand and looked down. (This is too much. Kale Akaisura, when I face you next time, you'll pay for all the pain that you've caused.)

"Heads up," announced a female SeeD member. "There's more soldiers' coming our way."

Lisa was willing to do anything to stop the killing of her fellow comrades in arms and cadets. She then got up and rushed the soldiers with the cadet and a few SeeDs by her side.

At the docks of Balamb, Sasha and Seifer along with some SeeDs was furiously fighting against many Galbaldian soldiers. They didn't have the kind of weapons the armies of Galbaldia or Esthar to stop soldiers and ships from docking, but Sasha fired a few energy blasts at some of the ships and stopped them from docking. She couldn't get all of them, but prevented them from being overwhelmed.

Sasha was furiously doing horizontal slashes with the Lion Heart Gunblade and driving back five soldiers. Because of the proximity the soldiers were at by each other, they couldn't swing back without injuring another close by. After dodging another slash from Sasha, the soldiers' scattered and tried to surround Sasha. She wasn't going to have any of it and charged at the closest person in the circle. In a horizontal slash, she knocked his sword away and with a return motion, cut him down. She then quickly cast a meteor spell at the other soldiers and took them down.

A few feet away from Sasha, Seifer was fighting about three soldiers. It was a challenge to say for the most part. Seifer was swinging the Hyperion at one soldier and had to jump to the right to avoid an attack from another. Without warning, two of the soldiers attacked him at once with overhead slashes. He quickly brought up the gunblade and blocked them. Without trying to be in this situation, Seifer had both soldiers pushing their swords on his gunblade and Seifer was on one knee. The third soldier was getting ready to stab him, but was taken down from behind by Sasha. Seifer nodded at her and angled his gunblade and the soldiers' pushing their swords down had slipped off. In a mighty upward swing, Seifer took down one soldier, and spin slashed the other one. He didn't have anytime to rest because more rushed toward him.

Sasha was about to help him but was confronted by a soldier on a motorcycle. The soldier sped toward Sasha, but instead of running, she held her ground. (Okay, come to mama, you damned fool.) Sasha said silently. When she felt the motorcyclist was close enough, she jumped forward and jump kicked him off the motorcycle. The man fell off the motorcycle and the bike fell to the ground and slid to a stop. The radio on her belt then flared to life, "We need backup by the entrance!" Sasha quicky got on the bike and was riding through the streets. She had to dodge around many people, but she was at the entrance in no time and saw three SeeDs being ganged up on by eight soldiers. Once she got up off the bike she put the Lion Heart in a battle position and used her instant teleport technique. She instantly appeared in front of one of the SeeDs on the ground. The soldiers immediately went after her and she teleported behind them. With the quickness, she took down four of the soldiers, and the SeeDs took down the rest. She then rode back to the docks to help Seifer and the SeeDs.

Dan, Squall, and Irvine were furiously fighting against seven soldiers. Irvine was able to take out two before he had to start dodging and jumping back. He then cast a Thundaga spell and hit the soldier slashing at him. Irvine then shot the downed soldier, killing him.

To his right, Dan was fighting two soldiers at the same time. He had to admit, these soldiers were sloppy when it came to fighting, he would have taken them out sooner, but when he had one in trouble, the other one jumps in. He swung his katana in a horizontal motion and the two soldiers jumped back. He then concentrated energy into his fist and waited for the soldier to charge. Once they charged, Dan slammed his fist into the ground and an explosion of energy knocked the soldiers back and out.

He looked over to Squall and saw as the commander finished off a soldier with an overhead slash. The three then ran towards some more soldiers that were ganging up on some SeeDs and Cadets.

All through Balamb, there was intense fighting everywhere. There was casualties' on both sides, but more on Galbaldia's side. It looked like the Balamb Garden SeeDs and cadets were winning, and the Galbaldian soldiers were fighting a losing battle. The commanding officers outside in the transport trucks heard various transmissions from their soldiers, none that were good. They decided to call a retreat.

"Retreat!" Yelled a Galbaldian soldier in red.

Lisa looked in the direction along with the cadet. In an instant, all of the soldiers they were fighting and ones they weren't ran to the entrance. Lisa had to stop the cadet from attacking any soldiers that were running past them, and they let them by. They also let them take their wounded and dead. (It's about damn time they called a retreat. This battle was a waste of human life. I'm just glad it's over.)

Suddenly the radio on Lisa's belt blared something, "Lisa, Lisa, are you okay?" Dan's voice came from it.

She picked it up and said, "Yeah, I'm alright. How about you?"

"Nothing serious," answered Dan. "Just a few scratches. You know, I'm glad I got more then one uniform. This one is messed up, and it looks like it's been through hell and back. I'm just glad this battle is over."

"Same here," acknowledged Lisa. "Now all we have to do now is liberate Timber and Dollet, and Defeat Kale in Deling city. I'll talk to you later." She then turned off the radio and turned to the cadet. "I told you we would get through this." The cadet just nodded and smiled.

In the next few hours, all of the residents of Balamb city were returned back it and the SeeDs and cadets all went back into the Garden with a few from Galbaldian Garden. This was another victory won, but at the cost of many lives. Lisa didn't know how much more of the death and destruction she could endure. Kale was the cause of all of this, and she made a vow to fight with all she's got and she's going to go through with it.

(Time: 21:17 hours. Place: Balamb Garden.)

Zechariah was in the infirmary sitting in a chair by his comatose son, Thomas. He couldn't stand to see his youngest son in this state. He was going to make Kale pay, one way or another. "Thomas, I'm going to take care of Kale for you," he said. "I hope you'll come out of this coma soon. Goodbye son." Zechariah got up and left the infirmary and went to his temporary dorm room.

He locked the door and then sat down on the floor and got into a meditative position. After a few minutes, he felt another presence, but it was not in his room. It was on the same level of consciousness that he was on through meditation. "Who's there?"

"I could ask you the same thing," said a voice. "It is very rare for myself to find another on this level of the astral plane. Who may I ask am I talking to?"

"Zechariah Hawkwind," said the elder Hawkwind in his mind. "Who are you?

"Kale Akaisura," replied the voice. "You must be the one who is the oldest of the Hawkwinds, and taught all of your family Alexander's Legacy."

"Yes I am," said Zechariah. "You damned bastard. I'm going to make you pay for killing my son and putting my other son in a coma."

"So you want to kill me," pondered Kale. "If that is so, if you know the teleport technique, meet me on the Winhill Bluffs in a few minutes."

"I know of it," Zechariah replied. "When I get there, be prepared to die for all the pain that you've cause me."

"I'll be waiting for you old man," said Kale. "Don't disappoint me and not show." Kale then cut off his form of meditation and Zechariah didn't feel his presence anymore.

In an instant, Zechariah came out of his mediation. (I'll have vengeance for what you did Kale.) He then wrote a letter for Lisa just in case something goes wrong and he dies fighting against Kale. After he was finished, he picked up his sword, and got his Japanese bamboo straw hat and put it on his head. He left everything else that he brought with him in the room. (I'm sorry that I have to do this, but if I don't make it, you'll have to finish off Kale, my dear granddaughter.) In a flash, the old man known as Zechariah Hawkwind disappeared from the dorm.

(Time: 21:25 hours. Place: Winhill Bluffs.)

Zechariah appeared on the Winhill Bluffs and noticed that there was a ferocious storm going on. It was raining heavily with lightning and thunder accompanying it. It was like the heavens were crying out or something else. Lightning struck and thunder accompanied it. The rain didn't bother Zechariah. He tied the Sash tighter around his dark blue kimono and adjusted his bamboo hat and started walking forward through the wet tall grass that went up to his knees. The visibility and darkness would be a problem when they start fighting, but Zechariah didn't let that bother him either.

After a minute of walking, Zechariah spotted a figure in all black and walked toward it. When he was just about ten feet away, Zechariah stopped in front of it. After the lightning flashed, Zechariah was able take a good look at the man. He was in all black, and had a broadsword. "Kale Akaisura," said Zechariah. "It is time for fate to decide whether you live or die by my blade."

"Yes," started Kale. "It is time for fate to decide who lives and who dies. Will it be me, or will it be you? I know it's not going to be me. So, how do you like what I've done so far?"

"I don't like anything that you've done so far," quipped Zechariah. "I'll have revenge for my sons and all the other innocent people that you pulled into this."

"I should say," Kale pointed out. "It was a brilliant plan of aligning myself with the Galbaldian nation. It's too bad that I couldn't get Balamb today, maybe another time."

"You should know that if you defeat me here," the old man said. "You'll be killed by my granddaughter later. Also, you should know the Galbaldian army might not support what you are doing for long. I probably know that most of the soldiers don't agree with what you had them do. It just takes somebody to talk some sense into their thick skulls so they would stop following you."

"If you could find a person that could do that, I would like to meet them," smirked Kale. "Enough of this senseless prattle, let us do what we came to do and fight." Kale then unsheathed his broadsword and got into a fighting position.

Zechariah just nodded, unsheathed his katana also and got into a fighting position too. The two warriors just stood in their battle stances and looked at each other while the storm raged on.

They then started to circle each other slowly with concentration etched on their faces and taking no notice of the rain hitting their faces and violent winds that blew their clothes. Both ran toward each other and swung and hit their swords together. They circled each other while still having their swords together. Kale then pushed Zechariah's katana off of his and swung at his opponent's head. The old warrior ducked and only had his bamboo hat knocked off of his head. He then stabbed the sword forward but Kale twisted out of the way and swung his broadsword in an overhead motion. The elder Hawkwind quickly spun out of the way and did a spinning slash.

Kale quickly jumped back about six feet and slashed his sword and shot out a crescent beam wave from his sword. Zechariah quickly raised his sword and created a shield and blocked the blast.

(Place: Balamb Garden.)

Lisa Hawkwind looked up from her desk at feeling the two powers flaring up. She instantly recognized both of them, one being her grandfather, and the other being Kale's. (Oh god! I have to stop him from getting killed.) She then got up from her desk to look for Sasha, Dan, and Selphie. Also, she wanted to get clearance from the Headmaster about taking out the Ragnarok. She knew if she weren't fast enough, something terrible would happen.

(Place: Winhill Bluffs.)

After blocking that blast of energy, Zechariah rushed forward with his sword at the side. He then went into a fury of slashes. Kale managed to block all of them, but was lightly scratched by the last slash. "Old man, you're going to have to do better than that," commented Kale.

Zechariah said nothing, but charged once again with his sword in a ready swinging position. Kale charged also and put some energy into his sword. When the two swords clashed together, the energy put into Kale's sword knocked Zechariah's back and off balance. Kale then delivered a slash to the old man's arm. When the lightning flashed, Kale was able to see the look of pain and anger on his face.

They both then started to go into a series of slashes, thrusts, and parries at each other. This went on for about fifteen minutes, with neither man getting the advantage or losing it. They were both tiring, but Zechariah more because of his age and stamina.

Kale then started shooting many crescent beam waves from his sword, and Zechariah charged up his sword and hit them away. Zechariah knew he couldn't keep his katana charged up with his energy and Kale was getting more furious in shooting them. After a few moments, Zechariah's energy gave out and he was hit by two crescent waves before he went down.

Zechariah slowly rose from off the wet grass and faced Kale with his sword shaky. "I'll kill you," stammered Zechariah as he was trying his best to stay conscious. (Damn, I don't have that much energy left. I have to try one more thing if I want to defeat him. The murderer of my son.) That thought angered him. Kale saw the look on his face as the lightning flashed again and the thunder came a second later.

"So, are you ready to give in to your fate?" Kale questioned Zechariah.

"Never," huffed the old man. "I'll have vengeance for my family, and you'll have to kill me before I give up." Zechariah then started to gather his remaining energy into his left hand and held his katana with his right. He dashed forward with his left hand cocked the side while screaming. Kale didn't move as he felt Zechariah taking the last reserves of his energy and attempting to hit him with it. When Zechariah was close enough, he threw his hand forward and shot the energy at him. Kale took the full brunt of the blast, but quickly got up to his feet. (It wasn't strong enough.) Zechariah looked on with a scared look on his face. He knew he didn't have any more energy to fight back.

Kale then narrowed his eyes and quickly rushed Zechariah. In a horizontal swing of the broadsword, he knocked Zechariah's sword out of his hands. He then slashed Zechariah in the chest three times, and the cuts were deep. "This is what happens when you challenge someone superior old man."

Zechariah felt tremendous pain and couldn't keep upright any more. He then fell forward into the wet tall grass and felt as the darkness was closing around him. (Goodbye, my family. I'm so sorry Lisa.) Those were Zechariah's last thoughts before he died.

Kale looked at the lifeless body of the old man as the storm continued to rage around him. (That was challenging, but not as challenging as fighting against Lisa Hawkwind. Next time we meet, she'll probably be stronger, but not as strong as me.) He then sheathed his sword and disappeared in a flare of magic.

On the Ragnarok, Lisa, Dan, and Sasha just felt that something terrible had happened. Lisa looked down and tried to will the thought of what happened away, but it was hard. (Please, don't be dead grandfather.)

Selphie who was piloting through the storm as best as she could didn't see the looks on their faces. "How much further guys?"

Dan looked at Lisa and knew she wasn't going to answer. "I think it's a little bit further," Dan told Selphie. After a few more minutes of piloting the Ragnarok through the storm, Dan said, "I think we should land it. We'll have to go out and search for them."

"Okay," nodded Selphie. She then landed the Ragnarok. "Should I stay here?"

"Yeah," said Sasha. "You need to stay with the ship. Well, let's go."

So Lisa, Sasha, and Dan got out and started walking in the storm. The visibility was very poor except when the lightning flashed. After walking over a hill, Lisa spotted something when the lightning flashed. Even though it was just for a second she thought saw someone on the ground. In a few more seconds, the lightning flashed again, and Lisa definitely saw the person. She alerted Dan and Sasha and they followed her close to the spot. When she was about fifteen feet away, She recognized the clothes and the katana blade beside the body. (No. No. No. It can't be!) "GGGGGGRRRRRRAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDFFFFFAAAATTTTTTHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRR!" She then ran over to the body while crying. She turned him over and cradled his head in her lap. The three of them saw that he was dead. "NNNNOOOOOO!" She then started crying hysterically. Dan kneeled down beside Lisa and let her hug him. The one person that's been there for Lisa after her parents died was gone. She lay his head down and got up as well as Dan and Lisa continued crying in Dan's arms.

(Damn that bastard!) Dan silently cursed while holding the hysterical young woman in his arms. He really couldn't stand to see Lisa, the girl that he cares about, in this state.

Sasha also looked away and started crying. It was like Zechariah was the grandfather that she never had. His death also affected her but not as bad as it did Lisa.

As Lisa was crying on Dan's shoulder, a fire started to grow inside of Lisa. The fire of hatred for Kale Akaisura became even fiercer than it was before. (Kale Akaisura, I'll have revenge for all that you've done. I'll make you suffer just as much as I am before I kill you.) The young woman named Lisa Hawkwind claimed. This was the darkest hour in Lisa Hawkwind's life.

Author's notes: That's the end of chapter 7. Well, just when everyone thought it couldn't get any worst, Zechariah challenged Kale and was killed. Also, Timber and Dollet was taken over. This is truly the darkest hour for Lisa Hawkwind. Well, I hope you liked it. Just to tell everyone reading this again, work on Winds of Fate will slow down because I'm starting my classes for the semester this week. If you don't see it updated in a week, don't worry, I'll still be working on it, but not as much as I would like to. This is going to have to be on the bottom of my priority list. I hope you all understand. Well, don't forget to review before you hit that back button, or go somewhere else. Thanks in advance to all of those people that are going to review. Well, I'll try to have chapter 8 out as soon as I have time to work on it. Please be patient.